Football Manager 2012: Miles Jacobson Interview

Football Manager 2012 is due to hit the shelves before Christmas, and our good friends over at Football Manager Stories have just snagged an exclusive interview with Miles Jacobson (OBE), Studio Director at Sports Interactive, the company that develops Football Manager.

Here are some quotes from the interview:

Johnny Karp: I recently read that, in your view, every player has his own way of playing FM. I definitely agree with that and I want to know more about your way of playing the game. For instance, do you use different tactics for home and away games or do you stick to one tactic for all games?

Miles Jacobson: I have 2 tactics that I tend to use, and build the team around them. One is a 442 with wingers, a ball winning DMC and a box to box MC, and the other is a 532 with wingbacks, a ball winning DMC, a box to box MC and a deep lying playmaker. I’m mainly a wheeler dealer though. Lots of loan players when managing Watford outside the Premiership, and young players for the future, mainly.

JK: How do you feel about players that cheat in FM in an attempt to get better results quickly?

MJ: I don’t agree with them doing it, but people can play the game any way they want to. If they enjoy it more by cheating, then that’s fair enough – I just don’t understand why someone would want to do it!

JK: Did you ever receive angry letters or emails from wives complaining about their husbands’ addiction to Football Manager?

MJ: No. I’ve had a few people complain when I’ve met them, but no letters or emails.

JK: We already know that Everton and a few other clubs are using the game database as part of their scouting network, do you have an estimate on how many clubs are using FM to improve their chances of finding players?

MJ: We have absolutely no idea, outside of Everton. They’re the only club we’ve had an official deal with.